A FAMILY AFFAIR

Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington and Sara Haden

A FAMILY AFFAIR (1937). Director: George B. Seitz.

"Holy Jumpin' Jerusalem! A party with girls!" -- Andy Hardy. 

When 20th Century Fox adapted a play and came out with Every Saturday Night  -- which led into the long-running Jones Family series -- MGM also adapted a play the following year and came out with this picture, which also became a long-running series. Spring Byington played the small-town mother, as she did in Every Saturday Night and in all of the other Jones' films, but she was replaced by Fay Holden for subsequent Hardy entries. Lionel Barrymore was the first Judge Hardy but his replacement in all the other films in the series, Lewis Stone, is understandably more associated with the role. Both Byington and Barrymore are very good, although one could argue that the latter seems a bit pooped, weird, and possibly inebriated, but that was often the actor's style. The plot has to do with Judge Hardy putting a temporary restraining order on an aqueduct that might mean great prosperity for Carvel, and earning the enmity of the ingrate townspeople. Daughter Marion (Cecelia Parker) has fallen for a man, Wayne (Eric Linden of No Other Woman), who may lose his job because of the Judge's actions, while her sister Joan (Julie Haydon), who was never seen or mentioned again, is having serious marital problems. Son Andy (Mickey Rooney), who is horrified at the prospect of taking a girl to a party, changes his mind when he gets a load of old playmate Polly Benedict (Margaret Marquis of Escort Girl). Aunt Milly (Sara Haden, who played the role in most but not every Hardy picture) remarks that Joan "feels things too intensely," while the Judge observes that in his day young people were awkward about talking about "the facts of life" -- which elicits a gasp from Mrs. Hardy -- but now it's religion that has them squirming. There's an exciting scene when Marion and Wayne nearly have a disaster when two drunks tow their car to a gas station -- or at least try to -- and they come afoul of a truck whose brakes have failed. The entire cast is wonderful, with especially nice work from Eric Linden, Julie Haydon, and the remarkable Mickey Rooney, who pretty much makes it clear even in this first outing why the series increasingly focused on young Andy. Eric Linden's character of Wayne, who gets engaged to Marion, was never seen again. Marquis is good as Polly if not quite as distinctive as Ann Rutherford, who took over the role.

Verdict: Fun old movie with that irrepressible Mickey. ***.

ESCORT GIRL

ESCORT GIRL (1941). Director: Edward E. Kaye.

"He's going to try to find out if the escort business is, well, flexible."

Ruth Ashley (Betty Compson) is co-owner with Gregory Stone (Wheeler Oakman) of a clip joint named the Club Martinique and a highly successful "escort" business. Ruth is horrified at the thought that her daughter, June (Margaret Marquis), coming home from school with a fiance, might find out where her mother's considerable assets are coming from. To make matters worse, June's fiance, Drake Hamilton (Robert Kellard of King of the Royal Mounted), works for the district attorney's office. His latest assignment -- wouldn't you know? -- is to find out who the true head is of the same escort service that his future mother-in-law owns. Obviously, things don't go well for this family, with Drake eventually coming to believe that June herself is an "escort." This is a fairly frank 1940's exploitation item in which the word "prostitution" is never used. but little secret is made of what's going on with these sexy escort girls. In one scene a woman practically attacks her client on a bed, and in another eyebrow-raising moment a woman does a provocative dance number. Drake Hamilton acts like no assistant district attorney would ever act, going out and doing his own investigation and roughing up people he talks to. The acting in this is not bad; Rick Vallin [Nearly Eighteen] plays a gigolo who also works for the escort service. One thing the movie does not go into is men hiring men. This was Kaye's only directorial credit.

Verdict: Effective exploitation but nothing to miss I Love Lucy for. **1/2.